Google Photos will get a new Ultra HDR feature and will allow you to apply it to old photos

Google has started rolling out a new feature to Google Photos that allows you to convert regular photos into Ultra HDR — even if they were taken without using the technology, Android Authority reports.

Ultra HDR preserves both the standard definition (SDR) version of the image and an additional HDR luminance map, allowing content with a wider gamut to be displayed on modern HDR displays. At the same time, it maintains backward compatibility - photos will look normal on older devices.

The editing feature is already rolling out to some users in the Google Photos app, but it may not work yet because the editing will take place on Google servers. The user's device must also be running Android 14 or later.

The Ultra HDR option will replace the previous HDR effect in the editor and will appear in the "Adjust" section. Users will also be able to adjust the intensity of the effect. Files with the Ultra HDR effect will be smaller in size because only the luminance map is stored separately, rather than the full second image.